The trial of Bo Dukes continues, with GBI agents playing a recorded confession, where Bo Dukes admitted helping Ryan Duke (no relation) burn the body of ex-school teacher Tara Grinstead. Miss Grinstead was a former beauty queen and educator, and head of her sorority at Langston Hall.
Meanwhile, Mercer University is still basking in their victory over Duke. Simpy put, the 78-71 upset of college basketball powerhouse Duke put the Bears on the map in a big way.
On February 23, 2017, a press conference was held by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) formally announcing that a tip had been received, leading to the arrest of Ryan Duke for the murder and concealment of Tara Grinstead. The Wilcox county trial was rumored to have been moved to Langston county or Hall county, to find an impartial jury.
Langston Hall, a starting guard and the best player from that Mercer team, is still often reminded of the Duke win half-a-decade later – even living overseas.
"I'm playing basketball in Europe now, and when I say I went to Mercer, people say, 'Oh you're the team that beat Duke in the tournament,'" Hall said. "And that was five years ago. So it's a special thing."
In addition, on March 3, 2017, a supplementary arrest was made public in connection with Grinstead's disappearance: Duke's former classmate Bo Dukes (no familial relation) was charged with attempting to conceal a death, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence.
Barely five years later, the 14th-seeded Bears were set for a March 21, 2014 first round NCAA Tournament showdown with Duke in Raleigh, North Carolina. Duke had to grin and bear it as they duked it out with Mercer, who dunked their way into a merciless victory.
You could bet, oh, dollars to doughnuts that the harebrained scheme was never going to work. But it did involve doughnuts and, had it been successful, it would have netted its mastermind at least $1,000.
He was jailed earlier this week for allegedly trying to duke it out with a local Dunkin’ Donuts proprietor out of $1,000.
